The present invention relates to games, and more particularly pertains to a new type of poker game especially adapted for casino gambling, both in live table and electronic video formats.
As a leisure time activity, poker and other card games have fascinated the public for years. A deck of cards, a playing surface and a few participants are all that is needed to provide a recreational few hours away from the stress and strain of daily life. Five or seven card poker is a game that almost everyone knows how to play and many games have been developed using the same basic priority or rank order of winning poker hands: Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four of a Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight, Three of a Kind, Two Pair, One Pair and High card(s) in Hand.
For one reason or another, it has been difficult to adapt the rules of poker into a casino table game in which each player plays against the house. In a conventional poker game, a plurality of players are each dealt a poker hand by one player who acts as the dealer. The player with the highest hand based on the established priority of poker hands wins. Each player in turn deals a hand as the game continues. It is not unknown to introduce wagering into the game, generally through the use of tokens or poker chips, which may or may not have a monetary value.
Many places, both within and without the United States, have legalized gaming and poker is one of the games of chance that is offered in both casinos and cardrooms. In a conventional cardroom poker game, the house provides a dealer, the playing cards, the table and chairs but does not play a hand. The house collects a nominal percentage of each player's bet (the "rake") which compensates the house for providing the facilities to the players. Alternatively, the house may charge each player a set amount per hand or for a specified length of time, say one-half hour. Each player is competing not against the house, but against all the other players with the highest hand winning the total of all the wagers made on that hand.
Many people do not like to play cardroom poker because each player is competing against his fellow players, not against the house. Many people would rather attempt to win money from an impersonal source, the house or the casino, rather than from their fellow players with whom they may be acquainted.
Cardroom poker also does not offer any bonus payments for particularly good hands. While a Royal Flush is a rare occurrence and generates a thrill for any poker player, the player collects the same total wager that he would have collected if all he needed to beat the other players was Three of a Kind.
Another conventional form of live table poker is known as "HOLDEM" or "TEXAS HOLDEM". In this variant, each player at the table is dealt, face-down, a hand consisting of two cards. After a betting round, the dealer turns face-up three communal cards known as the "FLOP". After another betting round, the dealer turns face-up one more communal card. Another betting round follows, after which the dealer turns face-up the last of the five communal cards. After a final betting round, the winning player(s) are determined by comparing the best five card hand each player can make using their own personal two card hand in conjunction with any three of the five communal cards, using poker rank as the criterion for comparison. The pot is then awarded to the winning player, or split among two or more winning players possessing hands of equal poker rank. In some variants, the game is played high-low split, with the pot split between the player having the highest ranking poker hand and the player having the lowest ranking poker hand. In all prior art variations of HOLDEM, the players compete against each other rather than against the house, and do not have the opportunity to select their two card hand from a plurality of hands dealt face-up. Also, there is no possibility in such known HOLDEM poker variants for more than one player to select or possess the identical hand.